This weekend is Father's Day and my wee dad is worth a million special days
Anyone who has met my dad loves him, hes just a proper dad hands one, supportive and strict when he needs to be but we all love and respect him loads.
so as a tribute to him I am devoting todays blog post to my Dad.
Dad is from a Family of 15 (14 Siblings)
This photo is of his mum on her 65th Birthday
with his siblings
(Left to right)
Back Row
Thomas, Bernadette, Bridget, Mavis, Seamus, Annemarie, Dad (Eugene), Elizabeth, Michael, Eileen
Front Row
Kathleen, Daniel, Molly, Nana, Jack, Margaret
Sadly many of them have now passed away due to mostly cancers which ripped the family in bits mostly my Aunt Molly as she is the eldest she feels that she should have went before the younger ones, but sadly life doesnt work that way.
My nana was pregnant with my dad, when her and my papa and the twins (Mavie and Bridie) came to Scotland from Carndonagh in County Donegal in Ireland, They left the 6 older kids with family until they found a house and got settled as they didnt know anyone in Scotland.
Dad was born in the Sept 1947 and his childhood wasnt the easiest as you can imagine a large family of 15 and only one wage coming in, Papa had an allotment and they grew their own potatoes and vegetables which helped bulk up the meals as money for meat wasnt always an option especially for large family's but they did what they could and they didnt starve, infact even now I hear stories from childhood friends of dad's that "auld Mrs McClure" always had an extra place at the table, and this is something I have noticed that runs in the family, right through the cousins and 2nd cousins we are always able to make space for one more (or 2 on occasion)
Dad went to work in the shipyards when he left school as a riveter then he went to work in Chrystlers Car factory and then one to the job he loved the most laying the roads, there is many names for this proffession and dad used them all haha x Tarmacadam, Asphalter, Road Construction Engineer, Highway Operative, Steamroller Engineer, but they all covered the same thing, laying tarmac and asphalt to the roads and flattening them, but he loved working outdoors and enjoyed the banter and the team he worked with, in the 70's the company he worked with one of the managers branched out on his own and asked dad to foreman the main team and choose his team, Dad right away done the "irish" thing and brought his brothers on board, Thomas and Michael, also his Sister Elizabeth's Husband Tam and his Sister Mavie's husband Maurice and in time a few of the nephews also joined the squad but never lasted long the younger generation found the work hard and couldnt cope with the heavy work load. Dad also had his 2 best mates (I still call them uncles now) Uncle Sammy, and Uncle Alan. and he worked there happily for many years and we loved it in the weekends we all jumped in the back of the manky, bogging tar and oil, dirt filled transit van where they sat on old cushions on the floor (way before the law stepped in on safety) and went down to the beach, collecting whelks and mussels we all loved it and had an amazing childhood.
Dad met mum and they fell in love, they married Aug 76 and I was born in Jan 77
Them on their wedding day
Me on my christening day
with both mum & dad x
Dad was very hands on when we were growing up, Dad worked days on the roads and Mum worked in the pubs as a supervisor so Dad looked after me and my 2 younger siblings Laura and Eugene Jnr
Then an Amazing papa to the 5 grandkids.
Even our best friends kids call him Papa and have a special bond with my dad
Dad in his element surrounded by his "weans"
Left-Right
Jordan, Jayden, Dad, Mum, Jack, Leah and Mirin
this was taken on 1st January 2017
Love you always Dad xxx
